Improvement in cotton-gins



L. S. CHICH ESTER.

Cotton Gin.

Patented Oct. 12, 1858.

llrvrrnn PATENT OFFICE.

LFAVIS S. GHIGHESTER, ()F NElV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR- TO HENRY G.

EVANS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-GINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,795, dated October12, 1858.

E) rtlZ- whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Lnwrs S. CHICHESTER, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented a new and Improved Saw Cotton-Gin; and I dohereby declare that the fol-' Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a gin that will perform itswork more rapidly than the ordinary saw-gin without in the leastinjuring the staple or fiber. an objection attending the operation ofthe latter. The object is attained by dispensing with the usualstationary b.reast,which consists of a series of ribs placed in a frame,and between which ribs the saws work, and the cotton is forcibly drawnthrough in detached masses by the teeth of the saws, and using insteadan oscillating breast in connection with saws armed with peculiar teeth,the whole being arranged as hereinafter fully shown and described,whereby a much greater number of saws may be used on a given length ofshaft and the cotton allowed to pass between the breast and saws in anunbroken layer or bat of uniform thickness and the seed effectuallyseparated and ejected therefrom.

To enable those skilled in the art .to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a box or case,which may be of wood, and B is a shaft whichis placed transversely in the box or case, and has a series of saws, G,placed on it, the saws being a trifle less than an eighth of an inchapart, or at such distance as will prevent the smallest cottonseedpassing between them. These saws are not armed with the usual pointedteeth, but have their edges notched tangentially at suitable and equaldistances apart, as shown at a, to form teeth b, having smooth outersurfaces curved cori esponding to the regular curvature of the saws,each tooth having a retaining or catching edge, 0, which,however,doesnot project beyond, its outer curved surface. This will be clearlyunderstood by referring to Figs. 1 and 3.

D, Figs. 1 and 2, represents an oscillating breast which is formed byhaving a longitudinal section of a cylinder placed over the saws O, andin the same plane with their shaft B. The periphery of the breast isgrooved transversely with its axis in such a manner as to form ledges orprojections d, which are directly in line with the spaces between thesaws G, and may, if desired, project downward a trifle between thern,aslight space be? ing allowed between the projections and the edges ofthe saws, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The breast D is attached to armsE, the lower ends of which are fitted loosely on the shaft B, and areconnected by rods F eccentrically with pulleys attached to the shaft Gof a stripper, H, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The stripper H maybe of usual construction, placed directly back of thesaws G, and isdriven by a cross-belt from the shaft B of the saws.

The arrows in Fig. 1- indicate the movement of the several parts.

The operation is as follows: The box A has a suitable hopper attached toit, and the saws G are rotated by any proper means. The

saws O catch the cotton and convey it to the bite or angle formed by thesaws and the breast, the latter having a very short but rapid vibratoryor oscillating movement. \Vhen the breast moves outward, as indicated bythe red arrow, it has a tendency to feed the cotton to the saws andpress it snugly and evenly between their teeth. The breast loads thesaws, and hence obviatesthe necessity of the usual pointed sharp teeth,and by this same outward movement shoves or ripples the seed effectuallyfrom the cotton, which passes in an unbroken layer or sheet between thesaws and breast. The seed, while being prevented from passing betweenthe saws and breast, owing to the close proximity of the saws, cannot becut by them, but will be efwith which I am acquainted.

fectually acted upon by the outward movement of the breast to be fullyseparated from the fiber and expelled from the mass. Thus it Will beseen that by this improvement the staple cannot be injured by the actionof the saws, as they are merely passive or do not by their teethforcibly disengage the cotton from the seed by drawing the cottonbetween a breast orgrating, as in the old saw-gin. The separating of theseed in my invention is mainly due to the action of the breast, andhence the operation is widely different from the usual saw-gin and allmodifications of it Having thus described my invention, what I claim asnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The saws (3,-in combination with the oscillating breast D, the partsbeing constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for thepurpose herein set forth.

LEWIS S. OHICHESTER.

Witnesses:

WM. TUsoH, WV. I'IAU'FF.

